Higher Penalties for Damaging or Defacing Protected Places
Summary Offences Amendment (War Memorials and Other Protected Places) Bill 2024
1st House
2nd House
Law
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
Fines go up for people who wilfully damage or deface a protected place; the maximum penalty is now 50 penalty units or 2 years in prison.
The definition of a war memorial now includes war shrines, monuments, and statues.
War memorials now include integrated designs in the vicinity of a monument; this includes gardens or pools.
The pool of reflection in front of the memorial building is explicitly a war memorial.
Regulations can now exclude specific shrines, monuments, or statues from being classified as war memorials.